Mark Warburton

Sounds a familiar tale over at Brentford (save for substituting Dudu for a 'Sporting Director'):

" As part of a remodelling of the Club’s football management, a Head Coach will be appointed to work alongside a new Sporting Director. There will also be a new recruitment structure using a mixture of traditional scouting and other tools including mathematical modelling. As part of the new recruitment structure, the Head Coach will have a strong input in to the players brought in to the Club but not an absolute veto. "

I bet Roland would cream himself at the prospect of a bit of mathematical modelling when it comes to filling the gaps in our squad. In practice, of course, his usual questions (save for the odd crazy aberration like Polish Pete) are, first, is this player cheap and, secondly, is he already on the payroll ?

I can see the new management team taking Brentford to the next level, but not perhaps in the way that Matthew Benham is envisaging.